Book Review: The Girl With The Lower Back Tattoo

The Girl With The Lower Back Tattoo, by Amy Schumer, wasn’t a book I set out to read.  But it was available in audiobook format on an evening I went looking on the library website for books for my commute.  So there you go…

Amy Schumer is a comedian and actress, who is known for letting it all hang out.  She will say what’s on her mind, in excruciating detail.  She is crass, inappropriate and often laugh out loud funny.  But she certainly has a style that isn’t for everyone.  I’ve known about her for a while, but I’m not really into comedy or slapstick type movies, so I must say, I haven’t seen much of her comedy.

In her memoir, she once again lays it all out there, from her upbringing with dysfunctional parents, her self-esteem issues and what it is like to be a female comedian in an industry still largely dominated by men.  She talks about her career and how she got to where she is, from her teenage job as a summer camp caregiver, to waitressing, to being a pedicab operator in a hilly city…  With all of it, there is a copious amount of drinking!  She talks about dating, being an introvert, learning to accept yourself, and a host of other topics that women everywhere deal with, although perhaps not with as many f-bombs or vagina references.

The book has points where I was laughing in the car, and other sections where I was fighting back tears on my drive to work.  You might not appreciate her style, but she definitely has something to say.

3 stars. 

Circus Trip 2018: National Museum of the Air Force

Day 34, Saturday, August 18, 2018

Dayton, Ohio

The National Museum of the Air Force is located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio. It is the oldest and largest military in the world, and it has 360 aircraft and missiles on display. The museum was first created in 1923, with technical artifacts being collected for preservation. In 1954, the museum first opened to the public.

The museum has many rare aircraft and other memorabilia. They have the only surviving North American XB-70 Valkryie, as well as the Bockscar, the B-29 Superfortress that dropped the bomb on Nagasaki in 1945.

They have a huge collection of planes with interesting and beautiful nose art, which I have long been fascinated with.

One of the artifacts that I love are the goblets and bottle of Cognac given by the City of Tucson, Arizona to the Doolittle’s Raiders. The brave men who participated in the raid each had a goblet with their name engraved on it. When each man died, their goblet is turned over in the case; some men’s goblets were always overturned, as they were killed after they crash landed in China and were captured by the Japanese. The intent was that the last living survivor of the raid was to open the bottle of Cognac and toast the other raiders.  The bottle was from 1896, the year their Commanding Officer, Doolittle, was born.

Several years ago, there were 4 remaining raiders and they decided they wanted to complete the toast before they were down to one; three of them were able to travel to the museum and participate. The museum live-streamed the ceremony and the toast and I had the opportunity to watch. It was powerful to see, and impacted me greatly.  The last Doolittle Raider, Retired Lt. Col. Richard “Dick” Cole, died on April 9, 2018.  What a brave group of men they were!

The museum also had a special exhibit on the Holocaust; artifacts and information related to the concentration camps. The exhibit had information both on civilians and the airmen who were captured and held at the camps.  It was hard to walk through the exhibit and see the faces of those who died or whose lives were destroyed.

There are uplifting exhibits at the museum as well.  According to the Museum’s website, John Silver was a homing pigeon “used in World War I to deliver messages when other means such as telephones, telegraph, radio or dispatch riders were unavailable. They proved their value carrying messages from front line outposts to pigeon lofts at command centers, which they returned to by instinct and training.  John Silver was hatched in January 1918 in a dugout just behind the lines in France. During the Meuse-Argonne offensive, he was one of the most active pigeons in the Army, and his barrage-dodging skill was apparent in many exciting flights from the front line trenches to divisional pigeon lofts.

On Oct. 21, 1918, at 2:35 p.m., this pigeon was released at Grandpre from a front line dugout in the Meuse-Argonne drive with an important message for headquarters at Rampont, 25 miles away. The enemy had laid down a furious bombardment prior to an attack. Through this fire, the pigeon circled, gained his bearings and flew toward Rampont. Men in the trenches saw a shell explode near the pigeon. The concussion tossed him upward and then plunged him downward. Struggling, he regained his altitude and continued on his course. Arriving at Rampont 25 minutes later, the bird was a terrible sight. A bullet had ripped his breast, bits of shrapnel ripped his tiny body, and his right leg was missing. The message tube, intact, was hanging by the ligaments of the torn leg. Weeks of nursing restored his health but could not give back the leg he lost on the battlefield. The pigeon became a war hero and earned the name “John Silver,” after the one-legged pirate in Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island. He was retired from active service and in 1921 was assigned as a mascot to the 11th Signal Company, U.S. Army Signal Corps, Schofield Barracks, Honolulu, Hawaii. John Silver died Dec. 6, 1935, at the age of 17 years and 11 months.”  He was a hero! You can read more about him here.

John Silver, the homing pigeon

Outside, they have monuments and sculptures dedicated to various units of the Air Force.

 

I was there for a few hours in the afternoon, but you could easily spend a couple of days here. After two visits, I’m still nowhere near seeing it all, I’m sure!

Wish I Could See the Tulips

So many of us are staying home, and let’s face it, it is sad that so many social events have been canceled.  It can get lonely…  A local pride and joy each spring, the Tulip Festival, will instead be beautiful blooms of millions of tulips, with very few people to see them.

Here’s a photo from the 2019 Tulip Festival, in case you need a little pick me up for your stay at home life…

Stay safe everybody!

 

 

Rest in Peace Biz

Today, at about 3:20 pm, Biz crossed over the rainbow bridge.  It was a nice, spring day, and he went outside for one last day in the sunshine before he came inside, lay down, and was suddenly gone.

He was 32 years old, and had used up at least 17 lives, so it wasn’t a surprise, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less.

My parents bought Biz for me when I was 14 years old, in January 1990, over 30 years ago.  He was a two year old at the time, with no common sense, but he never really acquired much of that.  He was spastic his entire life, spooking at nothing, barging through doorways and gates, always in a rush to get in for dinner.  Unless it was spring, when on nice days, he would decide he wanted to stay outside, and whoever was trying to catch him could just go pound sand…

He was always high spirited, and full of piss and vinegar.  He trotted around, blowing and snorting, with his tail in the air whenever he had the chance.

The first time I tried to give him an apple, he didn’t know what it was, and wouldn’t eat it, so I gave it to his neighbor.  You better believe he never made that mistake again!

He let the cats ride him, but he loved to chase the dogs, and bite the cows.

He had a special talent for injuring himself or getting sick and was close to death at least four times that I can think of.  He had an immense capacity for healing.  He proved the vets wrong time and time again, living through horrific wounds, incredibly high fevers, equine influenza, suspected salmonella poisonings (yes that’s plural).  We made bets on whether he would go out in a blaze of glory, or just lie down and go when it was time.

He was patient about being poked and prodded, unless you wanted to poke or prod his face.  That required the good drugs…

He was a pain in the ass, but a sweet one at that.

 

Biz Before His Surgery

Biz and Me, Back in May

He’s pretty cute, if I do say so myself!

Hello there!

Biz looks a bit like a toothless Mr. Ed here!

Getting down on his level – waking up from the sedative…

Biz, looking regal before the sedative…

He gets his line out!

Biz and me – and electrolytes

I’m incredibly sad, but he lived a very good life, and he didn’t have to suffer a long, slow decline.  Rest in Peace, Biz.

Circus Trip 2018: William Howard Taft NHS

Day 34, Saturday, August 18, 2018

Cincinnati, Ohio

On my way through Cincinnati I stopped at the William H. Taft National Historic Site.

Taft was the 27th President of the United States, as well as the 10th Chief Justice of the United States.  He was born in 1857, and lived at his family home in Cincinnati, Ohio until he went to Yale University in 1874.  Even before he was President, he achieved many notable accomplishments!  Taft rose quickly through the ranks, becoming a judge while he was still in his twenties and then he was appointed as a judge of the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.  He also served as the civilian governor of Philippines, from 1901 to December 1903.

William Howard Taft (from Wikipedia)

Roosevelt spoke with Taft about appointing him to the Supreme Court in 1902, but Taft didn’t feel like his work in the Philippines was finished, and he also still had a desire to run for the Presidency.  One of Roosevelt’s goals that year was to eliminate Taft as a potential rival to the Presidency, as Roosevelt wanted to run himself.  Taft did accept the role of Secretary of War in 1904, and added Presidential Cabinet member to his list of accomplishments.

In 1908 he was elected President against William Jennings Bryan with Theodore Roosevelt’s assistance.  Taft and Roosevelt’s relationship deteriorated due to political disagreements during Taft’s Presidency and ultimately Roosevelt decided to run for President as a third-party candidate and split the vote, resulting in Woodrow Wilson’s win in 1912.

Several years after Taft left the Presidency, he did finally realize his dream of becoming the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court in 1921, and served until his death in 1930.  He was the only person in our nation’s history to serve both as President and as Chief Justice!

The National Historic Site is located in Taft’s birthplace and childhood home in Cincinnati.  The home was built in the Greek Revival style and is believed to have been built in 1842 in the Mount Auburn neighborhood of the city.  At the time, Mount Auburn was a popular place for wealthy residents of Cincinnati, where they could escape the heat and humidity of the inner area of the city.  Taft’s parents lived in the home until 1889, when they moved to California to benefit from the better climate.  The home was leased for ten years, then finally sold to a local judge in 1899.

The exterior of the Taft family home

The home went through the usual decline in the time period after it was sold out of the Taft family.  Outbuildings were destroyed, the home was divided into apartments, and by the time it was acquired by the William Howard Taft Memorial Association in 1953 for $35,000 it was in a sad state of disrepair.  The home needed restoration, and once it was completed, the home was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964.

The home has been restored to the period when William H. Taft lived there during his childhood.  The first floor of the home has rooms decorated in period furnishings, and it’s beautiful!

Taft Family Photo Album

Piano at William H. Taft NHS

The Parlor in the Taft home

A desk in the Taft home

The upstairs rooms are set up as exhibits, with information on Taft’s life and career.

William H. Taft’s Cabinet Chair

Alphonso Taft’s (William H. Taft’s father) desk

Campaign Memorabilia

The home is open as a part of a tour, but you are welcome to go through the upstairs exhibit areas at your own pace and take your time.  The Visitor’s Center has an interesting movie on William H. Taft and his life and career.  Be sure to check it out!  The day that I was there, there was a large bus tour of elderly women, but they were on the tour in front of me; my tour was fairly small.  You can see it all in about 90 minutes; and keep in mind, I go slowly…

Taft wasn’t a President I knew much about, but the William J. Taft National Historic Site provided an interesting overview of an accomplished man.

Such a Sport…

Since he got sick with a high fever and high white cell count almost two weeks ago, Biz has had three shots of a high-dose, long-acting antibiotic, fever-reducing meds, 20 liters of IV fluids, three urinalyses, and three rounds of blood work.  But my old boy is improving!

His white cell count is back into the normal range!  But the neutrophil count is still high; I’ve learned that neutrophils are a type of white cell particularly responsible for fighting off infection.  His infection was so bad that his bone marrow was sending out immature neutrophils – kind of like sending new recruits out into battle before they have even been to basic training.  Poor guy!

His kidney and liver markers are back in normal range, his temp is normal and he’s been eating like a horse.  I mean, like a horse that isn’t sick.  It is all such good news!

I wasn’t successful in pee catching yesterday, so that’s still on the agenda…  What can I say, he’s a shy pee-er, and when I rush in with my stick…  Well you get the idea…  My mom had it easy the other day because we were running IV fluids through him, so he had to pee!

He will start on a second antibiotic tonight and then, I’m sure another repeat of blood work in the next few days!

Spring!

These are interesting times.  In Washington, things are evolving rapidly, with the COVID-19 case count and death toll climbing every day.  Other than people apparently panic buying at the grocery store, nobody seems particularly worried.  Social distancing is the new buzzword of 2020 and us introverts finally don’t have to feel guilty about saying we don’t want to go out!

I’m working from home now, whenever possible, and have been busy trying to keep up with the new state and federal guidelines and legislation coming down everyday. I’m blessed that I’m able to easily work from home!  Nobody at my work has been diagnosed yet, but we’ve had a few scares.  It’s getting closer, and I’m sure it is just a matter of time.  I’m kind of exhausted.  I’ve written more policies in the last week than I have in a while.

California ordered a loose shelter in place for the whole state this evening.  I’m actually pretty surprised Washington hasn’t, since we have twice as many cases and four times as many deaths.  I’m not happy that I haven’t had plans to travel, but at least I don’t have anything to cancel!

And in spite of it all, spring sprung today in glorious fashion, shining down with a warm, sunny, gorgeous day.  The flowers are starting to bloom.  It’s clear I need to plant more narcissus.

Be safe everyone, and be kind.  Don’t hog all the toilet paper…

Book Review: The Testaments

The Testaments, by Margaret Atwood

I read The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, in college in 1995; it was assigned reading in an American literature class (we will set aside the fact that Atwood is Canadian).  It was so interesting.

The book follows the idea of a United States (now called Gilead) that experiences a takeover by a totalitarian, Puritanical regime, and people are segregated into roles.  Commanders (those running the country), Wives, Marthas (servants), The Eyes (the security force).  The book focuses on the role of the Handmaid, the women who are selected to be breeders for the Commanders; a necessity because some unspecified ecological disaster has caused infertility in most people.

The Handmaid’s Tale was published in 1985, and in recent years has become wildly popular, with modern-day readers drawing parallels (whether real or imagined) with the current political climate. Hulu picked up the rights and created a television series, which is very well done.

Atwood wrote a sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, called The Testaments; it was published in 2019, almost 35 years after the original novel.  It picks up with the stories of Gilead, 15 years later.  An active underground continues to try to destabilize and overthrow the government of Gilead and restore the United States.  Gilead is showing cracks in the system.  It follows the stories of three individual women whose lives are woven together.  All strong women; Atwood doles out their secrets over time and reveals a backstory that the reader might not have guessed.

Again, Atwood writes a novel that draws the reader in and holds your interest, but unfortunately I didn’t find it quite as compelling as the original novel.  Although I’m sure that people will be talking about both for years to come.

3 stars.

My Poor, Sick Horse…

This morning I slept until 8:05 am, after going to bed at 8:45 last night.  It has been a long week, to say the least.  I was originally supposed to be on vacation, spending some time in California before coming back and doing a cabin weekend at the mountain with a group of other women.

Monday night a text came in that my horse wasn’t eating and seemed off.  Oh no…  He’s 32 years old, but his appetite is rarely a problem…  I cut California short and traveled home Tuesday – there was almost no traffic in Washington due to the growing COVID-19 outbreak, the school closures and all the recommendations to work from home.

The vet arrived Wednesday morning to a horse with a very high fever of 105 degrees (normal is about 100), a heart rate of 72 beats per minute (normal is 30-34) and labored breathing.  Blood work showed a very high white cell count and a systemic reaction to some unknown inflammation.  A urine sample showed a lot of blood.  Biz was a very sick boy…

My vet gave him a double dose of a fever reducing anti-inflammatory, a heavy duty dose of antibiotics, and an IV line for administering fluids.  And then, all was quiet…  For those of you who don’t have horses, the veterinary care tends to be pretty do it yourself; they show you how to do it and then off you go!  Over the years I have given intramuscular injections, flushed IV lines, changed IV bags, changed bandages, dressed wounds, given pills and ointments, removed stitches, and done all sorts of holding him still, upright and positioned as vets have poked and prodded him in countless ways.

My mom and I gave him four – five liter bags of IV fluids over two days; one of those was loaded with B vitamins and electrolytes.  I had to flush his IV line every 6 hours and check his temp.  Thankfully, it quickly returned to normal and stayed there.

Biz getting his first bag of fluids

Biz and me – and electrolytes

Mom is a sport – catching pee…

Getting up in the middle of the night to drive out to the barn to flush his line is exhausting; and even more so when I was working remotely all day on the COVID-19 response.  My employer already has a lot of remote work ability, but trying to roll that out on an even wider basis reveals that that there are still a lot of reasons that people are needed in a central space.  It isn’t as easy as snapping one’s fingers and saying, just work from home!

I canceled my cabin weekend, because with temp checks, IV line flushes and antibiotic injections, it wasn’t going to be possible.  I’m bummed, but Biz is never going to make it up to me…

Thankfully, Biz is on the mend, with a normal temperature and an appetite that is returning to normal.  He will receive another dose of the four day antibiotic on Sunday, and then we will check his blood work again on Monday morning to see if the infection is going away.  As for the cause?  We don’t know.  There isn’t any widespread equine flu going around, and he doesn’t have any visible injuries to cause an infection.  He’s just an old guy that possesses a unique talent for acquiring whatever strange and mysterious illness is going around within 1,784 miles of him.

He gets his line out!

I’m just thankful that he also possesses a unique talent for healing, and for proving the vets wrong…  Biz, you keep doing you.

 

Circus Trip 2018: Buffalo Trace Distillery

Day 33, Friday, August 17, 2018

Lexington, Kentucky

My two days in Lexington were spent at the Boonesboro State Park.  It is a nice wooded park in the tent camping area, with plenty of space between sites.  The bathrooms were large and clean too!  The one thing that the park could not control though, was the rain!  My second night there, it poured.  All. Night. Long.  Everything that I left outside got muddy, and had to be washed off.  My tennis shoes were soaked!  I was really glad that I was snuggled in warm and dry in my car bed that night!

After I wiped down my stuff, packed up and gave my shoes a good wash in the campground shower, I headed out for the day.  I was in the land of Kentucky Bourbon, so I figured that I needed to do some sampling!  Keep in mind that I’m not a Bourbon drinker, so I decided on a distillery that had some history.

Buffalo Trace claims to be the oldest continually operating distillery in Kentucky.  They say that they have been distilling on this site since 1786, which is the same year that Hancock Lee received the title to this land at what was then known as Lee’s Town.  A commercial distillery has certainly been operating here since 1858!

Ready to taste whiskey!

A lightning strike in 1882 burned the distillery, but it was quickly rebuilt using the insurance money (and then some), and kept right on going.  During Prohibition, the distillery got a license to make medicinal liquor, and was able to continue operations when many distilleries shut down.  Today Buffalo Trace Distillery makes a number of whiskey brands, including, Buffalo Trace, Blanton’s, Eagle Rare, Sazerac, Stagg, Wheatley Vodka, and others.

Tours are free and include a tasting at the end, if you are over 21 of course!  Ashley was the docent for my tour; she was fun and had a good sense of humor.  The tour began with a nicely done video about the history of Buffalo Trace and the distilling process.  Then we got to see the aging warehouses, and the bottling line – the day I was there, they were hand-labeling bottles of a limited edition Blanton’s whiskey that was being shipped overseas to Poland of all places!

Old buildings

I love this building!

Because this…

Artsy photo of the grounds

Look how much evaporates in 18 years!

Then the tasting!  Each person got to choose two samples, and got a dessert sample if you wanted it.  I chose the Buffalo Trace and the Eagle Rare – I figured I was at a whiskey distillery so I should pick whiskey’s instead of the vodka!  I think you could choose the White Dog Mash too, but considering I thought mash was a byproduct and not a liquor, it was not my pick…

Tasting!

 

My samples!

My assessment: The Eagle Rare was smoother and easier to drink.  Both were better with water.  Neither were a drink that I would voluntarily choose…  The Bourbon Cream dessert liquor was good though!  It went quite nicely with root beer!  If I had to choose, that’s what I would have come home with, but I didn’t buy any.

What did I leave with, you ask?  Blanton’s bottle toppers!  Yes, Blanton’s has a signature bottle topper; a race horse, and there are seven different styles to collect.  And here at the distillery you can collect the bottle toppers for $3.50 apiece instead of shelling out $65 for a bottle of Bourbon!  They also had adorable Blanton’s mini-bottles (sans booze) (also $3.50) with adorable mini race horse toppers!  Yes, it’s ok, I’m a nerd and I know it, but I was so excited!

After my tasting, I headed to the onsite sandwich shop, The Fire House, and ordered a pulled pork sandwich with sweet BBQ sauce and potato salad.  So good!  It was nice sitting outside in the warm sunshine, now that the rain had gone.

I had a great sandwich here!

 

Pulled pork and potato salad

That night I made my way to Cincinnati for an overnight stop and since there aren’t that many campgrounds in or near Cincinnati, I had a rare night in a hotel.  I did my laundry, and watched TV!  It was a nice break from camping!